A rocking observation!

Neither are we great nor are we inferior because of what we have done. This is the unfailing truth!

Courage

Courage is the act of proceeding despite fear. Fear is like a line of nettles we must cross before reaching the soothing and cooling waters of freedom. Facing your fears is one of the best decisions you can make in your life.

Sometimes, even when we have decided to face our fears, courage fails us. Fears come disguised as discomfort, unwillingness, carelessness etc. We think, I am like that – I don’t like doing this – these are all excuses. Having once decided to face one’s fears, we must look forward to facing all clumsy, uncomfortable, undesirable situations. I want to fail, I want to be uncomfortable, I want to face my fears, again and again and again – should be your war cry!

Sometimes we are so afraid that we choose the security of cowardice over the adventure of fear. But every moment we have a choice and courage is making the right choice despite our conditioning and false feelings of security. Beyond fear lies strength indomitable, so why not proceed. Don’t we miss 100 percent of the chances we don’t take? So why not treat every problem – mind you- each and every problem as a challenge and solve it? Why give in to our own thoughts? We are not our thoughts, are we?

Thought and action

I am not really happy right now. I keep oscillating between stages of ecstasy and frustration 2 times in a fortnight and that is what I want to change.

So, what makes this happen. Suppose I am so involved in doing something that I forget myself completely. Then obviously I'll be happy, ecstatic as long as this happens. But as soon as I remember myself this doubt-saga starts again.


Doubt is the cause of all frustration. The question is how to stop self doubt? How to be really really confident of oneself? How to accept yourself as you are and yet keep growing?

Why does doubt arise? What is doubt?

All Self doubt is thinking – Am I perfect? If not, am I going on the exact track that leads to perfection? Am I acting perfectly. All others are watching me – can I act perfectly and come up to their expectations? Doubt is asking questions which are useless. Pondering on negative things produces doubt.

I don't know what your mindset was before class 12th, but in class 12th it became very negative. You have since tried well to remain overwhelmingly positive but that negative mindset has actually stuck with you. Remember class 11th when you only used to think of doing this and that – not am I pursuing the right approach? I have set some goals. Am I following them? Am I setting the right goals? Am I really growing or am I stagnant and worrying too much? - This is what makes up self-doubt.

Answering these questions is of course not the solution. The solution is changing the mindset. The mindset can be changed by thinking positively regularly. When you stop thinking positively, negative thoughts come up because of habit. I am telling you a startling fact. This negative thinking is a disease. You are infected and only overwhelming positivity medicine can cure it. Despite trying to be positive, the disease keeps coming back.

The solution: Flooding yourself with positive thoughts. All doubt arises from concentrating on negative things. Positive thinking can change your life. There should be only 2 things – positive thinking and working. Nothing else. Only positive thinking and work. If you have any doubts regarding this solution itself, here is the clarification! Life is too long isn't it? The greatest mistakes and failures are but stepping stones. So why not try it out? Every month sit down for 5 minutes and have a look at the effect it has had and decide upon any newer and more exciting things you may come across.

So what is positive thinking and doing? It means constantly flooding your mind with how exciting life is – constantly talking, thinking about positive changes and exciting changes – constantly reading, listening to positive things, constantly jumping and brimming with happiness – AND constantly being in flow and lost in achieving goals. I'll completely define the mindset for you.
A sample day:

You get up at 5 am with a deep breath, exercise and brush and while you are brushing you're thinking about studying – what to study today – heat transfer seems really exciting so you decide to study what to study while brushing.


You then excitedly start studying heat transfer and set a goal that you'll finish 20 problems by 7. At 7, you shut up heat transfer and go for a jog with dhakar. It would be better if you listen to audio tapes while jogging. Or maybe inspiring songs. Or maybe soulful conversations. The only fact is – don't trust your mind and let it run free. Then from habit it will start doubting and thinking negatively. Singing inspiring or devotional songs while running is another option. Another option is setting a goal to figure out why today's dawn is more beautiful than yesterday's morning while you run. Or you may simply give running your best and concentrate only on running – that is you may time yourself.

After jogging you immediately have a bath and get ready. Then you listen to some devotional music and some inspiring audio tapes or pod casts before having breakfast and going to class. In class you listen carefully and enthusiastically – you have set a goal of asking one question per class at least. In between classes you listen to audio tapes or talk of inspiring things to your mates or read something positive. If there is a break or when you break for lunch, you read the positive news from the newspaper. You have already made a note of where the most positive news items are listed and you read them Then you have lunch and while having lunch you listen to positive tapes or talk positively with friends – making it a point to appreciate and complement genuinely juniors, seniors, everyone. Suppose you have no class after lunch. You are completely involved in doing what you have set out to do and suddenly you even set dynamic goals like – I will develop an exciting C++ application today after reading and practicing what I intended to. In the meanwhile I listen to inspiring, enthusiasm generating music, read some positive material and am in flow doing what I have set out to for 4-5 hours. Then I have dinner, read a novel trying to find out something positive and exciting in every chapter – I have set a goal to do this. I watch an inspiring movie after watching which I revise the most positive aspects I witness in that movie – I have set a goal for this. Then as I read my way to sleep, I pray to god to keep my mind full of pure and motivating thoughts!

Remember

Carrying a positively motivating book or an i pod all the time so that you can listen or read whenever idle.
Whenever you talk – talk positively. Talk cannot be neutral. It has to be positive or negative. Appreciating, complimenting, what can we do – humorous talk is positive. Criticizing talk, if only talk, this has happened talk, why should this happen talk, Life is crap talk, is negative.
You must listen positively too. Stop talking to negative people. If you have to talk, seize control. Never give the rudder to a negative person. Take control of the situation. Talk him into talking positively. Choose positive topics like humor, compliments, life is good thoughts, etc. Never ever fall into a negative trap. Example if a friend is frustrated and depressed, don't come to his level. Make him rise to your level with positive thoughts.
When you do a job give your 200 percent. Be in flow. If you don't have privacy, go to a place where you won't be disturbed. When you work, there should be nothing but the work in your mind. Go to the insti roof. Don't compromise on quality by talking while you work because small compromises like this lead to negative thoughts.
If you find yourself to be part of a peer group that is goes on talking aimlessly, leave your group. Don't gossip because all gossip is negative.
When you are criticized as you will be criticized – throw all negative criticism into the Indian Ocean. Make note of and stay away from persons who criticize negatively always. Whenever you talk to such persons, never reason or comment. Send positive vibes.

There are so many gaps in your daily routine – that one chink is enough for negative infiltrators to have a party. Think of ways in which you can flood your day with positive influences. Keep setting new goals. Keep doing things you fear.
Despite all your attempts, remember never to consider yourself the ruler and conquerer of negative thoughts. This egoistic thought itself is a negative thought disguised as a positive influence. An year of positive blissful growth oriented living can be ground to dust by a week of negative thinking.
Despite all attempts to surround yourself with positive thoughts – doubts will creep in. Let us say you were really embarrassed. After this situation, your self esteem will naturally tend to decrease and negative thoughts will make a mammoth attempt to break in. If the situation was a very small incident, dismiss it as a bad dream and overwhelm yourself with positivity. The best thing to do would be to -> Look for the positive trait you exhibited in that situation.
-> Set positive goals to further improve that situation.

Do not think that positive thinking and positive doing means no failures ever. Not only will you have failures – you will have more failures than ever before. The more positive you are, the more you venture forth and the more number of times you fall. But for every one step you fall, you will climb a hundred more. The secret is not to stop climbing. That you have come down a step does not mean your climb has been a failure. It does not mean you are a failure. It does not mean there are no more steps left to climb. And it does not mean you should look down and let go of the ladder. It simply means nothing basically. At most it could mean that you need to have a stronger foothold. So do just that. Have a stronger foothold and climb right up.
The goal of positive thinking is to make you look up all the time. If you look down by chance, positive thinking should make you climb up again. That is why positive thinking is almost as important or even more important than the climb itself.
Rely more on motivation from tapes and books more than motivating yourself from within initially because you have been habituated to negative thinking.
When doubts creep up as they sometimes will, when you start thinking if you are actually doing what you intended to do – forget those doubts- shun them. And then continue your positive schedule as if they never came. Because they don't exist. They have been conjured up. Never ever act as your doubts want you to. Don't think what they want you to.
Act don't think. Whenever in doubt whether to act or not act, follow the golden rule – act anyway. If you don't you have behaved negatively. Negative thoughts have found an inlet into your heart – whether you believe it or not. Every negative action brings in negative thoughts and every positive action brings in positive thoughts. Positive action is ten times better than positive thought so you can well gauge the importance of positive action.

Remember that positive thoughts don't come from the blue – read positive books, listen to positive tapes, work hard, talk positively, think positively, listen to positive songs, watch positive movies, act positively.

When overwhelming positivity enters your life and when work follows thought as thunder follows lightening – life becomes a blissful, growing experience.

Why on earth did he do that?

This is based on a true story:


He toiled by day, he toiled by night
He rowed and rowed with all his might,
And as he rowed, he dreamt in mirth,
To become the fastest rower on earth.


Can I do it? He often thought.
And then his mind was filled with gloom;
“Shut up!” He spurned this spurious thought,
And went back to work with his broom.


“You fool”, they said, “you simpleton!
The Olympic gold is not won,
By people like you and me”,
As he rowed past them with glee.


And when the trials drew so – so near,
His heart was numb and filled with fear.
He failed, he stumbled, he came last
Way behind the winner’s mast.

He tried again, again and again.
(They said that he tried in vain!)
Until one day, this man from nix,
He made it to the Olympics!


The race began, he rowed unafraid,
Body, heart, soul in unison swayed.
And as he led the scowling pack
He turned around and looked aback.

An opponent’s boat had turned about,
He could see faces popping out,
Of the water. As all other rowers over took,
He jumped into the slashing brook.

The waves hit him on the face,
He knew he had lost the race.
But heart and nerve and sinew he risked,
As a panting comrade he frisked.

When all was over, all was done,
When the Gold had gone to the chosen one,
A special award was announced,
And he the recipient pronounced.

For victory and loss are common things
But there are even greater kings.
By choosing not to row, but dive
He’d kept the spirit of the Olympics alive.

A Poem

The business of living


“The movie is so interesting”,
He thought, sitting in the theatre.
The corn, the ambience, the plot so arresting!
(And what about the caricature?)

He’d come with the account didn’t he?
Wads of notes, cheques, coins to chime,
Fortune to last an eternity:
The bank account of time.

Spend and watch, watch and spend,
As if they were synonyms!
The Business of watching a movie!
The Business of living a life!

With eyes on the screen,
And hands on the keys
Of his lap, he sat unseen.
A gander among geese.

Amidst this stifling heat-
No fluster, no frown.
He got up from his seat
He put the lap down.

The movie went on
As out he went(And out it went)
Into the rain- the spattering rain:
Out of the vent.(All that was pent)

The rainbow, the rain,
The stir of the way:
The radiance, the main,
The light of day.

He’d stopped watching the show,
He’d stopped working on the lap
There was nothing to tow
He’d opened the tap;

That he may drink.
The freedom in control
The freedom of being
And being in control

Not the freedom of the leaf
Blown by the wind;
The freedom of reality:
The freedom of the wind.

And then he knew he was
Not in the future,
Not in the present,
But in eternity.

Meghu